Start a new game : why ?

[Tchey]

Hello,

I was wondering why i’d like to start a new game after the current one ? All cities seem extremely similar, only difference in size. Shops and events are all the same, just randomized names etc.

Also, if i start again, my character goes down to nothing, mostly, almost no inventory slots.

So, what’s the incentive to start a new city (warning : real question, not sarcasm) ?

[Isabelle]

Originally posted by Tchey:

Hello,

I was wondering why i’d like to start a new game after the current one ? All cities seem extremely similar, only difference in size. Shops and events are all the same, just randomized names etc.

Also, if i start again, my character goes down to nothing, mostly, almost no inventory slots.

So, what’s the incentive to start a new city (warning : real question, not sarcasm) ?

less information readily available on-hand

[Ahoge-dono]

Once in late game, you probably have a profile of every citizen which for some takes the fun and the challenge out of solving cases, there's nothing to deduce cause chances are you probably bumped into them already.

Early game you had to be a bit resourceful in how you get info. Had to be conservative with sync disk you find, cause your inventory space is limited. There's a lot of busy work to be had, for some that's the fun game play. I am going to say getting fully powered up isn't hard, just have to get lucky, but 15 minutes in starting a new game in a new city already got a camera and the inventory spots I needed. Money isn't that difficult to generate.

Only real downside to starting a new game in a new city is needing to re decorate your apartment.

[Goldkin]

Agree with what has been said here already. Generating a new city gives you a higher chance of more interesting mysteries to solve due to lack of resources and profiles on hand, even if generated cities and events play out mostly the same.

Sort of the same compelling reason people play Phasmophobia and other procedural evidence-driven games; you're starting from zero and trying to connect the dots from there. (In which I sincerely hope this game grows a co-op mode at some point in the future... :) )

[Sky Wizard]

All the above is true, but also the longer your save exists, strange things start to happen. Like this: https://steamcommunity.com/app/986130/discussions/0/3833172420321768886/

[J010011113]

I think the monotony of the cases by way of having too much information could be eliminated if whatever code that chooses murderers was amended to spread them out a bit.

In my experience, most of the murders take place in one or two of the buildings in any city...or concentrate around an area so you get 2 or 4 murders in the same building. In this situation, we're bound to come to know a lot of people just by having to look through files for a location at which another future murderer works or lives. Today's harmless wait staff that lives in Armstrong Deluxe and works at the Doublesize Dog Diner is tomorrow's no-surprise killer b/c their coworker also went homicidal.

I once tracked a guy down for a stolen baseball card and he ended up being the very next murderer. I once solved a murder and the partner of the victim was the killer in one of the next cases. Now, I appreciate that the game must obviously brand certain citizens with a criminal disposition, but if this were an exception to the rule of most murders being unrelated to the social/work group you investigated just prior rather than the rule seeming to be "create a bunch of criminals who all know each other", it might be a lot more challenging and immersive.

The way to do this, I think, is to create deeper connections in the city and have those connections actually carry value that is reflected in the world. Ever notice that there are only "partners" in double occupied apartments? Rarely two people just being roommates. never two siblings who live together, or family. Not only does this create very small webs of interaction, but it negates any future injection of motive.

IMO, there needs to be a way to gather means and motive in order to finalise the appeal of replayability of this game. For instance:
Poisoning victims always have a syringe nearby. What if the poison was ingested in a drink? Then you're looking for a bottle rather than a syringe...okay...no prints on the bottle...looking through the trash, you find a receipt for the purchase as the same brand as the bottle and it has the victim's roommate's name on it. So, you go to the liquor store and ask the clerk if they know the person; they say yes, they came in and bought wine on such and such a date...but then you notice that the wine was purchased a full day before and on a whim you watch the surveillance for the liquor store. You see the roommate, but checking the backroom footage you also see the shop keeper taking a bottle from the fridge, going to the back and using a syringe to inject it. Turns out, the shop keeper spiked the wine...okay, that's means...buy why would the they do such a thing? Well, if you had searched the victims medical records, you'd see they've been approved for a medication or for medical coverage and searching the keeper's apartment will reveal that a loved one is waiting for the same thing...that's motive. Motive could also be hinted at by NPCs that have the closest relationship with the killer...as other people have stated in these discussion...like, "So and so has been depressed because their brother is ill.".
There are a bunch of options for scenarios that aren't just formulaic, "Here's the scene-Here's the weapon- Here's the killer- done". The replayability of this game should lie in it's storytelling which needs far more elements toreally feel "random".

Seemingly unrelated NPCs with no connection at all except what is already offered in standard searches. Then instead of running down names and searching through 4 or 5 company directories, you're actually searching for material evidence which contains the clues you need.

I think the liars and cheats update will give NPCs the ability to fib, which would put us on the right track for the need to have suspects established alibis which is crucial. In the above scenario, for instance, the keeper would say that he was working when the vic died...which is true, but when asked what his shift hours were, we could find out that he was running late the day of the wine purchase because he was specifically preparing a certain bottle to sell to the roommate, a regular customer.

This example is weak and just off the top of my head, but I think it's essential that the devs ask for all the evidence on a case form: Name, Address, Means (evidence proving alibi wrong), Motive (bank statements, policies, letters, email), Weapon, Cause and Time of Death, Evidence placing the killer "at" the crime scene; in order for this game to truly immerse us unto the genre by offering us the same abilities, at least, as a Columbo, or James Rockford...if not Sherlock and Poirot.